If I were shopping for high quality memory, I would use the following parameters as a guide...

* DDR3 rated at 1.5v or lower
* DDR3 rated at the lowest CAS I could afford
* DDR3 rated at the highest clock speed I could afford
* Limit the scope of my purchease to G.Skill, Mushkin, Corsair XMS or Crucial (non-Ballistix)

While not wavering on the voltage point, I would balance the other issues with my budget.

Remember, my goal is not pure "benchmarking" performance, but simply finding the highest quality memory I can afford.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blain

The only reason I pay a premium for low latency, high speed, low voltage memory is...Quality and quality alone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blain

1.5v is the JEDEC DDR3 voltage standard.
Stay with 1.5v or less if you can afford it..

it meets the JEDEC standards, so that would work...i'm just not sold on Kindston's memory quality/reliability, especially when you can get memory w/ similar or identical specs from say Corsair, G. Skill, etc. for about the same price...

...they're also nice b/c the heatsink is no taller than the memory module itself, unlike many high performance offerings from G. Skill. that said, you might also want to consider kleinkinstein's suggestion...these Samsung modules (or their 8GB (2 x 4GB) kits) seem to be the most well rounded DDR3 out there right now. don't let the stock timings fool you - they are quite capable of the 9-9-9-24-2T timings that you see on many other memory DDR3 1600 modules, and can reach those timings w/ less voltage than all the others. also, while this memory may not be the best OCer out there, its certainly near the top, and can do so on less voltage than most/all other memory out there.

just to give you any idea of how loved this Samsung memory is, just read the reviews on newegg, or read through any of the Hot Deals threads highlighting this memory. as much as i liked the various Corsair memory linked above, and as well as they served me over the past year, i have since bought (8) 4 GB sticks of this Samsung stuff to replace all my Corsair memory.

it meets the JEDEC standards, so that would work...i'm just not sold on Kindston's memory quality/reliability, especially when you can get memory w/ similar or identical specs from say Corsair, G. Skill, etc. for about the same price...

^ i've had great experiences w/ that exact memory. i've also had great experiences w/ the following memory:

...they're also nice b/c the heatsink is no taller than the memory module itself, unlike many high performance offerings from G. Skill. that said, you might also want to consider kleinkinstein's suggestion...these Samsung modules (or their 8GB (2 x 4GB) kits) seem to be the most well rounded DDR3 out there right now. don't let the stock timings fool you - they are quite capable of the 9-9-9-24-2T timings that you see on many other memory DDR3 1600 modules, and can reach those timings w/ less voltage than all the others. also, while this memory may not be the best OCer out there, its certainly near the top, and can do so on less voltage than most/all other memory out there.

just to give you any idea of how loved this Samsung memory is, just read the reviews on newegg, or read through any of the Hot Deals threads highlighting this memory. as much as i liked the various Corsair memory linked above, and as well as they served me over the past year, i have since bought (8) 4 GB sticks of this Samsung stuff to replace all my Corsair memory.

In some other thread, I remarked that I've stuck with G.SKILL since 2008 as a sort of rule-of-thumb based on my personal experience and that of others. I also have a set of Corsairs deployed in 2008 and still working well.

The skinny on the street -- which seemed pretty reliable -- was that G.SKILL was using Samsung black-parts in several models of their DDR3's. Probably some other manufacturers are doing the same. Meanwhile, those 1.35V Samsung modules with no heatspreaders seem to be garnering a near-legendary reputation for the moment. . . .

its up to you. either of those is fine...really it comes down to marginally decreasing your power consumption. here's the reality though - it will take months (maybe a year or more) in electric bill savings to recoup the $7 difference between the two memories you linked. so going from 1.5v modules to 1.35v modules isn't going to put a major dent in your power bill. its more about overclockability for enthusiasts and peace of mind for those just looking for reliability...

i'd recommend either of those Corsair products - purchase either with confidence.

all other factors being equal, it should allow you to run the same timings at 1.35v that the other module would require 1.5v to do reliably...and the same could be said for clock speeds. so yes, in theory the 1.35v modules could be looked at as being more reliable if you're going to either overclock, tweak your timings, or do both. in practice though, i wouldn't expect a significant difference in performance or reliability...just negligible savings on your electric bill over the long term.

I'm in a similar situation here. Looking for a 8gig dual channel set. Getting a bit more ram in preperation for upgrading to windows 8. Going from 4 gigs to 8. Would love to reuse my RAM, but its voltage is hideous...2.0v.

Running an older setup. I have an LGA 775 board that supports ddr3 1600. I've been running 1600 since this thing was built in '09.

Beyond the DDR3 1600 rating (clockspeed, yes?) is there any other consideration I ought to account in terms of compatibility? I know smaller timings and brand are considerations, but is there some other category I must satisfy to keep my mobo and cpu happy?